After foiling an attempt by a black druid to usurp power in Kyiv, the young jarl Helgi heads for Ladoga. Prince Rurik appointed him as his governor in this important trading and craft center of the northern Slavic lands. It isn’t easy for the newcomer Varangian to get along with the local people. What’s more, in the far forests there are murders of innocent people, and the estates on the border are burning—this is what Helgi’s sworn enemies are trying to use to discredit him…